Hair Dare

As you all know, Amber dared me not to cut my hair in the year 2009. And so I have not. Not only have I not cut it, but I haven’t thinned it either, which is something I usually do quarterly so as to stop the madness that is my thick thick hair. But, in order to make sure that I didn’t break the rules on a technicality, I did no thinning of any kind. This means that I haven’t cut my hair since last October. Let’s look at some before and after photos.

December 2008-look at how cute and short it is. And look at those nice little layers. And look at how it’s not attacking me or anyone else.

December 2009-Ahhhh! It’s out of control. It takes up more of the photo than our faces do. I think I could hide a child in the part on the far left of the photo.

I was going to say that my plan was to keep growing my hair after 2009 is over and see how long it can go. But, seeing these photos has made me think that I need to reconsider this notion and that perhaps a haircut in my near future wouldn’t be the worst idea I’ve ever had. I’ll keep you updated.

 

Snow and Other Stuff

Today’s post is a gathering of random information from me to you:

1. Do you see the snow falling on my blog? Thanks to WordPress, I can make it snow on this blog from now until January 4th. Why January 4th? I can’t say, but I’m sure excited about it. Please enjoy.

2. Jeff and Maren packed up their Montreal apartment on Saturday, drove it to New York on Sunday and unpacked it all into my apartment. (I guess I should now say our apartment). I haven’t seen it yet as I am at work, but am told that there is a walkway among the boxes leading from the front door to our bedrooms and from the bedrooms to the bathroom. I was specifically told that should I get up in the middle of my sleep to pee that I won’t have to be on my guard for things that I might run into. While I’m not pumped about the unpacking and moving of things that this turn of events brings, I’m excited for Jeff to be here and his flat screen tv and our new couch! Don’t worry, pictures to follow.

3. Last week I painted the kitchen. Well, sort of. I painted as far as my short self could reach as there is no step stool or chair of any kind in the house and as far as the small can of paint that I bought would last me. I hope to finish painting this week, so I’ll post pictures of that as well. For now, you get to know that we are going from the color “buttercup” to the new awesome color “Caribbean cabana”.

4. Do you remember when I had that rash of unfortunate and bloody papercuts last month? Well, last night as I was paying my electric bill and licking the envelope, I papercut my upper lip with the envelope. To say that this hurt would be accurate. I can only pass along this tip: Use caution when licking envelopes. The lips do not like to be cut. It also created a problem later when I ate some popcorn and drank some orange juice. Not a good snack choice for me.

5. Today is my first day of a new semester and my first day in my Psychology of Sexuality class. How excited am I about this? Well, it’s one of the reasons I chose this degree because I thought it sounded like a very interesting class. The main textbook for this class is called “Exotics and Erotics: Human Cultural and Sexual Diversity”. The only bummer about this class is that I have to pick my final paper topic by Thursday. I really hate it when they make you pick your final paper topic so early in the class, even before you’ve actually done any research or learning. But, I’ll muddle through and try to pick something interesting like cultural differences in prostitution practices. How great does that sound?

6. I arrive in Oklahoma in 13 days. And I was just thinking that I will have seen some of you Oklahomans three times in the year 2009! What? It’s like I live there again. Three times in one calendar year! It’s almost too much.

7. I forgot to mention one of the best parts of the Philly trip which was that Zak and I found a Sonic on the drive back and had breakfast there. Is there anything better than a breakfast burrito and a vanilla diet coke? The answer is no my friends.

8. I also forgot to mention this funny exchange I witnessed while waiting for Zak outside the movie theatre on 42nd street on Thanksgiving Day:

          Kid: “I want to see Twilight”. 

          Dad: “I wouldn’t see that if my life depended on it. If I had to choose, I would choose to die”.

9. They lit the Rockefeller Center christmas tree last week and I can’t wait to take Maren and Jeff for their first-ever viewing of it.

10. Speaking of christmas trees, Zak and I put up the tree in my house on Friday and it’s just as lovely as I remembered it. We decided to go with a theme this year which is “tree bling” since we used mostly glittery/gold ornaments. It’s pretty great. When we have everything from the Perretts big move unpacked, I’ll take its picture and show it to you.

11. Hello, this is so important, I can’t believe I didn’t mention it sooner! My final project in my statistics class kicked so much ass that it brought my 76% that I had been carrying all crappy semester long up to an 82% which means that I won’t mar my college transcripts with my first ever C. I can’t describe to you the noise of joy I made when I saw this, just knowing there was one is probably enough. I’d also like to point out how funny it is that I’d be so pissed if I got an 82 in any other class, but in this class, I consider it a moral victory.

Well, I think that’s all of the random life information I have to share for the day. Enjoy the complimentary snow.

 

Electronic Greetings Day

Today is electronic greetings day. What a great day! In order to celebrate, I’m going to greet you all on this blog, then send a text at some point today (to those of you who have given me your number) and I’ll send out an e-card. What a day! If I facebooked, I’d greet you there, but you all know how I feel about facebook. So no luck.

Speaking of facebook, I was reading an article in Women’s Health the other day talking about how a lot of couples are having problems with their partner staying in contact with their exes on Facebook and how it didnt’ used to be such a problem but now it’s easier to stay in contact. I found this article very funny but I’m pretty sure it was meant to be serious. So, let’s let this be a warning to you all to be careful about who you’re talking to on your pages or else it might break up your current relationship. Or something like that. Perhaps if you are communicating with exes, Electronic Greetings Day should be Electronic Non-Greetings Day and you should stop. Ponder that. With that said, the reason I found it so funny is that I think it’s silly that people get so upset about others talking to exes. Who cares? Unless the guy beat you and that’s why you broke up, why shouldn’t you talk to him? Ponder that as well.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all and a happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Since I don’t have to host a dinner for the first time since moving to New York, Zak and I have decided to have the anti-Thanksgiving. We are starting our day with a movie for $6 and then heading to an Indian buffet for curry and happy hour and then home for the only traditional part of our day, the annual viewing of Home Alone. Everyone else is out of the city and Zak and I are looking forward to our untraditional day!

I’ll let you know how our day goes. Best of luck to you all today. My fingers are crossed for no kitchen fires or deep fried turkey traumas.

 

Hello

I know I often say hello to my readers, but today is a very special hello because today is World Hello Day! Today I challenge us all to say hello a little more often. For example, instead of smiling at the doormen I pass on my way to work, today I will say hello. Perhaps I will even say hello to strangers I pass on the street (well maybe, that seems like an odd thing for a New Yorker to do). So today friends, let’s put on our friendly caps and say hello. Or you can try some of my other favorites:

1. “hello-hi” : this is from the movie Never Been Kissed and Autumn says it all the time and now I say it all the time. It’s a good one.

2. “bonjour-hi”: this is a Maren favorite when talking to me and we have, as yet, to take it outside of ourselves, but today seems like the perfect time.

So, take your pick and wow someone with an unexpected Hello today!

 

Name Your PC Day

Hello all. Today is National Name Your PC Day and I’m telling you about it because I support it wholeheartedly. I’ve also been naming my electronic devices for quite some time and can now encourage you all to do the same on this, it’s national day. A few years ago, Amber and I decided to name our electronics after Harry Potter characters which brought us:

Sirius Black-my last laptop

Buckbeak-my ipod nano

Mrs. Weasley-my current iphone

Neville Longbottom-my current laptop

Now, keep in mind that you don’t need a book theme for your computer. Just a name that you like or don’t like depending on your feelings towards your computer. I find it handy to have a name. That way when Neville angers me, I can yell “Neville!” instead of “computer!”. It’s much more satisfying to have a name to yell rather than an object. Give it a try. You don’t have to tell anybody. Just do it.

 

Peanut Butter

Amber and I once had a conversation where we seriously debated which was better: Indoor plumbing or peanut butter. And you’d be interested to know that we decided on peanut butter. Peanut butter rocks! It’s so yummy on it’s own or with apples or bananas or with chocolate or on bread or with jelly or with nutella or on a cracker or with marshmallow fluff or in a salad dressing or on cold noodles. Sometimes I open the jar of peanut butter just to smell it. (I also do this with coffee but don’t tend to smell most other foods in case you were concerned for my mental state.)

My all-consuming love for peanut butter is what makes me so happy to tell you that November is also Peanut Butter Lovers Month! How great is that? A whole month just for me to appreciate one of my favorite things? Genius!

Another Amber peanut butter tidbit: when we were in college, she used to put peanut butter on her pancakes and I used to judge her for it. Then I tried it and loved it so much that I have done it ever since. Let me take this opportunity to apologize to Amber for doubting her and for doubting the yumminess of peanut butter. That was wrong and I hang my head in shame to you both.

Let’s all do our part to love peanut butter: let’s eat some reeses; enjoy a spoonful as a snack; eat a pb&j for lunch; smell it when no one is looking. I’ll be doing all of these things and can only hope you will too.

I heart Peanut Butter!

 

What a Month

In college and high school I used to pay attention to those weird and random monthly and daily celebrations that go on in the months. Like national skinny-dipping week in June. So, I thought I’d look up November and share with you some of the good ones.

November is also known as:

International Drum Month

Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month

National Georgia Pecan Month

National Impotency Month

National Novel Writing Month

Vegan Month

If we are to fully celebrate this month we have a lot to do in a short time. In order to give November its due, I will try the following: I will try to drum on some things whenever I can; I will try to avoid gluten one day; i will eat a pecan; I will not change the channel during that viagra commercial where the mans own reflection talks to him about his erectile dysfunction; I will work more on the idea for a children’s book that I have; And, in a funny turn of events, a few days ago (before I knew about this) I decided to give Vegan a try for a month, so I’m already celebrating Vegan Month accidentally.

So, those are my plans. Make some of your own and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on what is happening in December.

 

No Visitors?

So, I have off most of the week of Thanksgiving and I realized yesterday that this is the first Thanksgiving since I’ve lived in New York that I haven’t had multiple visitors. In fact, several people are leaving New York for this holiday this year. I sort of can’t believe that there won’t be a full house with someone sleeping in the loft and in all the beds and on the couch. It’ll be very strange. Maren is going to the Grey Cup (if Jeff makes it) and Lisa is going out of town and John isn’t coming for the first time in a few years. It’s just me and Zak this year. How weird is that? We’re going to have an alternative Thanksgiving. We’re pondering a day trip or a just an entire day in the movie theatre. Either way I’m sure it will involve drinking and the movie Home Alone, as is our usual tradition. I’m not sure what to do with a two-man Thanksgiving. What will we do when there aren’t 6 of us crammed into the tiny kitchen trying to find stovetop and oven space for all the food? What will we do without the challenge of mashing the potatoes in the dining room? Will there even be pumpkin pie? It’s sure to be an interesting day and I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

 

Thematic Injuries

Let’s take a moment to talk about an interesting pattern I noticed in myself the other day. And when I say “in myself” I mean, in my clumsiness. In the month of October, I was plagued with bruised on my wrists and forearms. Bruises of various sizes and stages of healing all up and down both arms. Where did they come from? I don’t entirely know. Some of them I knew, but others, not so much. Those that I did remeber were from running into stationary objects with my arms. When I say stationary objects, I mean things that are easy to see and are always in the same place-like buildings, doorknobs and scaffolding. Yes, scaffolding got the best of me in October. I not once but twice ran my arm into the same metal pole on the same scaffolding that has been in place for at least 6 months on my route to work. In addition to my scaffolding idiocy, I also twice hit my arm on the side of a building and continually ran into door knobs and doorways themselves. Finally, my arm bruises healed and I seemed to be over my silly injuries until November rolled around and I now contintually give myself small cuts on my right hand. First the oddly bloody Goldfish bag papercut, then the formula metal cut in the same finger, then a killer multipaged magazine papercut and just yesterday I stabbed myself with a knife while cutting an apple. What is happening to me lately? Some might choose to feel concern. I however choose to be entertained by the themes of my stupid injuries. I wonder what December has in store for me. Random leg injuries? Torso bruising? I can only hope that there isn’t a month when I experiene a lot of head trauma as that might actually warrant some concern. I’ll keep you posted.

P.S. What really sucks about the many cuts on my right hand is that I work in a profession with a lot of handwashing which makes band-aids hard to keep on and where I touch alcohol swabs and alcohol cleanser a lot more than my open wounds would like. This last part has lead to a lot of words that shouldn’t be used in Pediatric nursing to escape my lips at work. Good thing I work nights.